Auto Theft and Recovery: Effects of the Anti Car Theft Act of 1992 and the Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act of 1984.

摘要

Motor vehicle theft was a growing problem in the early and mid 1980's. In 1984, Congress enacted the Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act in order to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle thefts and facilitate the tracing and recovery of stolen motor vehicles and parts from stolen vehicles. The Department of Transportation implemented the 1984 Act by issuing the Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard, which requires manufacturers of designated high theft passenger car lines to inscribe or affix the Vehicle Identification Number (YIN) onto the engine, the transmission, and 12 major body parts. As an alternative to parts marking, manufacturers could choose to install antitheft devices as standard equipment on a limited number of those lines. The objective of parts marking is to allow law enforcement agencies to identify stolen vehicles or parts removed from stolen vehicles - and to deter professional thieves since they will have difficulty in marketing stolen marked parts and are more likely to get caught if they steal cars with . marked parts. The high-theft car lines were designated in 1985, and actual parts marking began with model year 1987.